Disclaimer: Ranma Nibunnoichi, and the associated cast and concepts are 
the property of Rumiko Takahashi and those publishers and distributors 
to whom she has given official rights. It is not the intention of this 
work to infringe upon those rights. This story may not be purchased or 
sold without the express permission of the writer, meaning me, the 
creator, meaning Rumiko Takahashi, or those agencies to whom the creator 
has given such rights or privileges. The ideas explored are those of the 
author, and should not be construed to express the opinions or 
intentions of the creator or associated agencies.


Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections

Vol. 01 - Stuck in the Middle With You



Part One: Three Ranmas!?

A. V. Morgan



The promise of spring hung in the air over Tokyo's Nerima Ward. It was a 
warm day for late winter, spiced by the scent of rain. The shower had 
lasted just long enough to soak anyone caught out in the open to the 
bone. Or, in Ranma Saotome's case, just long enough for him to become 
her. Trudging home from the train station, she stopped to adjust her 
clothes, ignoring the incredulous stares of those who were witnessing 
the transformation for their first time. But one of her startled 
witnesses was impossible to ignore, staring at her with wide, sapphire 
blue eyes from only a hand span away.

As she met his shocked gaze, Ranma closed her eyes, her pose of defiant 
indifference crumbling as she reached for it. The face she was trying to 
block out was too familiar. She saw it in the mirror whenever she was a 
he. Unfortunately, the last mirror he had looked into had been cursed, 
giving birth to this living reflection.

"You can stop staring now," she grated ominously, still aware of the 
weight of his gaze.

"Y-you... you turned in-into HER," the unnatural twin gasped.

Ranma did not need to open her eyes to tell he was pointing between her 
and her other reflection, the duplicate of her female side that had been 
created a week earlier.

"Pretty neat, isn't it?" the original, female duplicate piped up, 
pulling Ranma into an "aren't my twin and I cute?" pose.

"Do you have to do that?" Ranma complained, cringing. Once again, she 
found herself wondering how she got herself into these absurd 
situations, but this time the answer came easily as her mind flashed 
back to her first visit to Mirror Mansion.

On a weekend training trip, Genma and Ranma had stumbled across the 
mysterious manor while seeking shelter from a violent storm. Genma was 
hardly in the door before he noticed a table bearing a basket full of 
fruit. Stems and peels were flying before the old man who let them in 
could complete a warning about the shrouded mirror that stood in the 
foyer. Before she knew what was going on, Ranma had slipped on a banana 
peel, crashed into the mirror and tore down its protective seal, 
scrambling desperately to stay on her feet. Somewhere between flailing 
to keep her balance and phrasing an acidic accusation to throw at Genma, 
Ranma's brain registered the old man's warning against tampering with 
the seal of the cursed mirror. He was saying something about a ghost 
obsessed with finding true love--or at least a lover--would possess the 
reflection of anyone who looked into the mirror. Ranma had not needed 
the explanation, however. The warning was little more than a narration 
of what was happening as she confronted her self in the mirror that 
first time.

For one week, the girl created by the cursed mirror had chased after 
Ranma and made life around the Tendo home twice as chaotic as Ranma, 
alone, ever could. The first few days had been the worst, before the 
copy realized that Ranma was not willing to be her lover and she 
"surrendered" to her fate. But that had been a ruse. She had used the 
remainder of the week to plot out her conquest of Ranma.

When Ranma and Akane brought her back to the mansion to seal her away in 
the mirror, Copy--as they had been calling her--captured Ranma in the 
trap mirror that the old man of the mansion had given to Ranma in order 
to capture her. But when she tried to escape with him into the cursed 
mirror, Akane had interfered, tripping her with the fruit basket and 
releasing Ranma from the trap mirror. But as he emerged, Ranma landed on 
a piece of fruit, skidded out of control, and crashed into the new, 
warded curtain covering the giant cursed mirror.

Ranma could still feel the sick sense of inevitability that she felt as 
the curtain was torn away in the collision and she glanced, once again, 
into the cursed mirror. Because Ranma had been a boy at the time, the 
new copy was male, and that feeling had grown worse as the new 
reflection became instantly obsessed with the old reflection.

Ranma had tried to console herself with the thought that the copies 
would be less trouble as a couple than they would be as individuals. 
Neither of them seemed to have possessed a clue what to do with a lover, 
once found. The "throw yourself at someone and kiss them" tactic the 
girl twin had used the week before was almost comical when doubled. It 
had taken them a while to stop lunging at each other and banging heads. 
By the time they were on the train bound for Nerima, the pair had 
impulsively progressed to hugging and kissing. Ranma and Akane had 
quickly decided that it would be a good idea to keep the two clones 
separated until they got home.

The image of the two making out in their seat on the train popped back 
into Onna-Ranma's head, still shot shocking chills through her body. 
That reaction was followed by a hot flush, as the girl clone continued 
to test her limits. Taking note of her new love interest's reaction to 
Ranma's transformation, she rubbed her cheek against Ranma's, purring, 
"I'd share her with you if you shared him with me."

"Erk!" Akane, walking a few paces ahead, jerked around in outrage and 
glared at the girl twin. The duplicate simply grinned and cupped one of 
Ranma's breasts provocatively, eyes fixed on the male reflection. 
Ranma's pigtail shot straight up in the air, and so did the boy 
twin's--his eyes widening and mouth going slack.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Ranma snapped, opening her eyes 
to glare at her clone. "Leggo of that!"

"Wha- why... how... did he turn into you?" the male clone demanded in 
alarmed confusion, his eyes glazing.

"We do not have time for this," Akane grumbled in annoyance, eyebrow 
twitching ominously.

"I didn't turn into her!" Ranma barked in an offended tone, suddenly 
standing in front of the boy duplicate, two or three paces away from the 
girl duplicate. "Like I toldja earlier, she's the copy of my girl side!" 
Ranma declared, staring up at her new nemesis critically. Then she 
turned back to the girl copy, rubbing at a bruised breast. "And what the 
heck were you thinkin'!?" Glaring at her twin, Ranma fought against the 
spinning, falling sensation that gripped her at the thought of the 
copies "sharing" her.

When the original female copy had been chasing after Ranma, a part of 
him had been flattered, but the very notion of the new male copy 
pursuing her with the same kind of intent made Ranma shudder.

"I was only trying to think of your happiness!" the girl twin protested 
sincerely. "I mean, a boy like a girl like you needs a girl like me and 
a boy like him. How else can you fit in? But, now that you mention 
it..." the girl twin paused to put a finger to her chin and turned to 
study the boy twin thoughtfully. She snapped her fingers and smiled at 
Ranma. "I get it now! He's too much of a man for you! Just like I was 
too much of a woman for you! This finally explains your feelings for 
that macho pervert-girl!"

"Hey!" Ranma and Akane shouted in unison, fuming.

"So, she is... a boy?" the boy twin leaned in to ask the girl twin, 
pointing at Ranma in confusion

"When he isn't a girl," the girl twin confirmed redundantly with a 
cheerful nod.

"I am NOT a GIRL!" Ranma shouted peevishly, rising up on her toes to 
loom over both of them.

"You are TOTALLY a GIRL!" the girl twin retorted, cupping Ranma's 
breasts again for emphasis. The sight of one red-headed girl fondling 
the other again shorted out certain synapses in the confused and 
agitated brain of Otoko-Ranma's copy. As a girl, Ranma was 
indistinguishable from the object of his affections. Since--for his own 
sake--she had to be a girl, then by direct association, so did Ranma. 
That concluded, his brain suspended all coherent thought and proceeded 
to simply enjoy the view.

"That's it! People are staring at us! Let's go," Akane announced, 
grabbing the confused boy by the arm and dragging him away from Ranma. 
Still arguing, Ranma grabbed her girl twin by the hand and followed.

When they reached the canal, Ranma and her duplicates all hopped up to 
walk on the fence by reflex. Akane took a deep breath, pacing the boy 
twin as she continued along the sidewalk alone. Tuning out the sound of 
Ranma arguing with her look-alike, Akane stared straight ahead and tried 
to pretend her life had never become this insane. When only a few 
puddles and damp spots in the shade remained, and everything 
else--including the teens' clothes and hair--had dried in the sun, Akane 
sighed and glanced up to the side.

The boy walking nonchalantly along the top of the fence--unchanged by 
the freak down pour--was definitely not Ranma, but all of the little 
things she had grown accustomed to, the little things that were unique 
to Ranma, like the way he moved, his careless grace and confidence, 
called out to her.

"This is really starting to creep me out," Akane muttered. Looking up at 
the trio again, she repeated her initial complaint, "Why did he have to 
be male?"

"What are you starin' at?" the boy twin asked, catching her glaring up 
at him.

"Jerk," she turned her head and kept on walking.

"Butch!" he muttered, turning to look at the red-headed girls walking 
hand in hand along the fence top after him. "What is that chunky, 
tomboy's problem?" he asked in confused annoyance.

Onna-Ranma looked at her twin, then back at the boy, and suppressed a 
shudder. "This is creeping me out too," she muttered under her breath. 
Bending her head sternly, she pushed the boy on, "Keep moving. I need to 
get you to the dojo and out of sight before either of you get me into 
any more trouble!"

The boy allowed Onna-Ranma to push him along the fence toward their 
destination. He kept his footing with effortless grace, backpedaling 
down the fence pole in front of Ranma. In spite of his inclination to 
see Ranma as the girl she had become, he was still somewhat disturbed by 
the fact that she was also the boy who had freed him from the mirror. It 
did not make sense, even in his limited experience.

Taking her free hand, as a means to keep track of which girl was which, 
he returned to the question that was bothering him. "So... You gonna 
tell me why you turned into a girl? Why you look like her?" he demanded, 
while the girl stared in shock at their joined hands.

"Aw, man! I told you I'd explain it all if you came with me to the 
dojo." Ranma scowled as she tried to slip her hand free.

"You said that before you... changed," the boy accused, tightening his grip.

Onna-Ranma grit her teeth. "Whatever. Get this straight first. I don't 
look like her. She looks like me! I was in this form the first time I 
looked in the mirror, and I was a guy when I looked in it again today!" 
she growled. "Both of you are copies of me," she asserted for the 
hundredth time.

The boy tensed in alarm, as the implications of that statment fully 
unraveled. "You don't mean...!? Aw, man! I'm not going to turn out to be 
a freak like you, am I?" He twisted away in horror.

Onna-Ranma cringed and her face darkened with anger as Akane's voice 
trailed back to them, "If you're so disgusted, WHY ARE YOU STILL HOLDING 
HIS HAND!!?" Akane kicked the fence so hard it wavered under their feet 
and spilled all three of them into the canal opposite the sidewalk.

Onna-Ranma plummeted toward the water in resignation. The girl twin 
betrayed only the slightest surprise, while the boy twin went into a 
full-blown panic. The three plunged into the water and surfaced, 
spluttering in shock at the cold, shouting in unison, "What didja do 
that for!?" The boy was patting himself on the chest in terror until 
Akane leaned over and stuck out her tongue.

"Dummy! Didn't you notice that the rain had no effect on you?"

Before the boy could answer, he was launched over the fence by a blow 
from Ranma. She had moved in an instant rage, wounded once more by the 
simple fact that the boy was immune to her curse.

Before she had stopped shaking in silent fury, the girl twin grabbed her 
by the collar. "Hey! If you wanna hit on someone, go hit on your 
pervert-girl!" the girl shouted, launching Ranma over the fence with a 
vicious uppercut.

Akane stood frozen for an instant, her eye twitching madly again, as 
Ranma crashed down in the middle of the street. The girl twin had 
started calling Akane "pervert-girl" during her amorous pursuit of 
Ranma, and clearly did not intend to stop.

While Akane silently debated between maiming and murder, the girl twin 
leapt over the fence, went to her counterpart's side and cradled his 
head in her lap. "Hey! Are you okay?"

Akane lurched forward to pound the girl into the pavement as Ranma 
popped to her feet and rushed forward to tackle the girl, moving neatly 
into position to intercept Akane's elbow drop. Ranma was slammed down 
into her duplicates with enough force to knock the air out of all of them.

As they lay there stunned, Akane grabbed the boy clone by the pigtail 
and dragged him off towards the Tendo Dojo. Despite the fact that the 
boy twin was proving to be just as annoying as Ranma, Akane had agreed 
to keep the couple separated until they were all safe at the dojo. By 
the time Ranma and her twin had recovered, Akane was dragging him around 
a corner. The girls stood up, muttering a litany of unflattering things 
about Akane, and limped the last two blocks to the dojo.


* * *


Akane heard the two red-heads rushing to catch up to her as she passed 
through the gates of the dojo. Tuning out their loud cries for her to 
wait for them, she stalked up to the house. "I'm home!" Akane announced 
her return, dragging "Ranma-kun" into the genkan.

Kasumi turned from watering a little bonsai tree, which sat on a narrow 
table in the hall across from the entrance, and took in the boy's 
disheveled, unconscious state. One hand came up quickly to cover her 
mouth. "Oh my," she murmured softly, before composing herself. "Welcome 
home, Akane-chan, Ranma-kun," she smiled. Before she could ask about 
Ranma's condition, Soun and Genma burst into the tiny entry, loudly 
demanding a report.

"Oi! Akane-kun...!"

"It's about time, Boy...!"

"...Did you get rid of that menace?" they chorused.

Taking in "Ranma's" state, Genma hauled the boy twin to his feet, 
shaking him, "This is no time to be napping, Boy! Tell me you've done 
your duty as a martial-artist and sent the evil back to where it came from!"

Akane cleared her throat as the boy mumbled in semi-conscious confusion. 
"About that..." she began.

At that moment, Ranma swept open the entry screen and leaned in with her 
clone, "Akane! Wait! What are we going to tell...?" Everyone's eyes 
snapped to the two red-headed girls in surprise, as Akane hung her head 
in embarrassment. Ranma recoiled in dismay.

"Well, this is hardly a surprise," Nabiki commented, appearing in the 
hall behind Soun and Genma. With a mischievous grin, she cleared her 
throat and said loudly, "What do you have to say for yourself, this 
time, Ranma?"

Ranma immediately began sweating and waving her hands, "Wait, wait. I 
can explain everything! It's not my fault!"

"Oh, yeah, this ought to be amusing," Nabiki smirked and watched as Soun 
and Genma loomed over the panicking girl.

"RanMAAAA! What is the meaning of this?" wailed Soun angrily.

"Foolish Boy! How could you fail in such a simple task?"

Akane grabbed the girl twin and pushed her forward, clearing her throat, 
"Actually, um... This is mostly her fault."

"Hey!" the buxom redhead complained instantly, ignoring the fuming 
fathers to turn on Akane. "You were the one who threw the fruit basket!"

"You! You were the one who brought that damned compact along and tried 
to steal Ranma with it!"

"What? You mean you actually want him?" the saucy redhead challenged, 
completely deadpan.

"N... No!" Akane blushed and growled, "That doesn't have anything to do 
with it! You can't just kidnap people like that!"

"Oh, what wonderful news, Saotome-kun! My little girl rescued your son 
from an evil demon!"

"Who are you callin' a demon!?" the mirror girl snarled at Soun.

As Soun lurched back in fright, he knocked the pitcher of water out of 
Kasumi's hand. It sailed unnoticed overhead, seeking a suitable target, 
before coming down on Genma. "Oh! She's so SCARY!" Soun whimpered, 
cowering in the corner.

"Oh my!" Kasumi finally interjected. "Maybe we should all sit down and 
discuss this over tea?"

There was a short pause, and then a round of shrugs as everyone silently 
agreed to her suggestion.

Ranma and Akane marched the clones through the sitting room, and out 
onto the patio. Ranma picked up a hot teakettle from the table as she 
passed through the sitting room, and stepped out onto the grass to 
quickly explain the curse to the duplicates.

"All right, pay attention. I'm not gonna explain this twice," she began, 
explaining how her father took her to Jusenkyo and knocked her, at the 
time him, into the Nyanniichuan. Using half the water in the kettle, he 
restored himself to normal, and as expected, the boy twin instantly 
produced cold water to test the curse. Ranma fumed, but recalled how 
others had reacted to the same story. Ukyo had spent hours pouring hot 
and cold water over her, out of sheer amusement.

Ranma, using the last of the hot water, warned the couple that the curse 
was the only problem in his life they were spared from. He then took a 
moment to try to convince them that it was in their own best interest to 
avoid contact with anyone outside the dojo. Not that he believed he 
could truly keep the two from bringing new chaos to his life, but it was 
worth a try.

After wringing out his shirt and airing it for a few moments to dry, he 
joined the others at the table, where Akane had finished explaining what 
had happened at Mirror Mansion.

It was a quick explanation, since everyone already knew about the cursed 
mirror, the spirit of the noblewoman that stole the image of whoever 
looked into it to fulfill her dream of finding true love, and the little 
trap mirror they had received from the old man of the mansion. Nor was 
it surprising that the girl twin had made one last attempt to abduct 
Ranma and take him with her back into the mirror.

When Akane finished explaining how the boy twin had been freed from the 
mirror, Nabiki turned to collect a handful of yen from her father and 
Genma. She then took a third of the pile of cash and handed it over to 
Kasumi. Akane did not even bother to ask what the bets had been. She 
just shook her head and explained that she and Ranma had seen no other 
option but to bring the couple home until repairs to the mirror's seal 
could once again be completed.

"Another week!?" Soun moaned, as Kasumi poured tea next to Akane.

Ranma glanced over his shoulder and saw the couple mooning over each 
other. Closing his eyes, he reminded himself that they were just 
reflections, and what they did had nothing to do with him. He could only 
hope that their mutual absorption really would prevent a repeat of 
girl's rampage.

"You are so hot!" the boy declared, taking the girl's hands in his.

"Oh, but you're so cool!" she praised, her eyes twinkling.

"The perfect couple!" Ranma quipped, oblivious to the fact that it 
sounded like he was bragging.

"You are so right, Ranma!" Kasumi smiled, delighted by the sight of at 
least one happy couple in the house.

"They're so alike too..." Nabiki deadpanned.

Akane just sat there with her eyes narrowing, feigning complete 
indifference to the situation. Genma wore the same expression, safe in 
the retreat of his panda form at the end of the table.

"I guess this is sort of like a honeymoon for them," Kasumi put in 
thoughtfully, after a moment. Tea sprayed forth from Akane and Genma. 
Ranma jerked as if he'd just been hit by lightning, his eye twitching 
madly. Nabiki raised an eyebrow.

"Ka- Ka- Kasumi!" Soun stammered, looking shocked.

Genma whipped around to look at the mirror twins, closing in for a kiss, 
and jumped up frantically waving a sign, [Stop them! We can't let them 
mate!]

Ranma and Akane flinched away as lurid images of boy-type Ranma 
molesting girl-type Ranma danced through the minds of everyone but Kasumi.

Akane whipped around on her knees, shouting, "YOU PERVERTS!" A 
roundhouse punch accompanied the cry, catching Ranma on the chin and 
blasting him out the open door into the mirror twins, spilling them all 
out into the yard.

Ranma, after skipping all the way into the koi pond, splashed to her 
feet shouting, "I'm not LIKE that!"

"What didja do THAT for?" the other two demanded in unison.

Soun, who had never bothered to mentally distinguish Ranma from his 
clones, came out onto the balcony and protested, "Ranma! How could you 
cheat on my daughter this way!?" Shifting an accusing finger from the 
boy to the girl, he commanded. "I forbid you to sleep with Ranma under 
my roof!"

Everyone stared at Soun for a second. Kasumi, who had not bothered to 
read Genma's wildly flailing sign until the panda froze holding it right 
in front of her nose, gasped as the synapse marked "clue" connected to 
the synapse marked "ecchi" in an instant of unrepressed thought.

"Oh my!" Kasumi blinked. "You don't think they'd do THAT, do you?"

Several present found themselves smacking their faces against the table 
in an attempt to dislodge the mental images being conjured up.

Ranma sprang to her feet again, growling at Soun, "I don't even know 
what you're TALKIN' ABOUT! How can I NOT sleep with myself!?"

"Ranma-kun! Think about what you're saying!" Nabiki warned with a shake 
of her finger, but Akane had already reacted.

"Ranma! You disgusting pervert! Don't you have ANY restraint or 
morals!!?" Akane advanced on her fianc�, a larger than average wooden 
hammer in hand, amidst a pillar of blue flames.

Ranma backed up slowly, hands out in warding gestures. "W-wait! Are you 
insane? Listen to what I am saying!"

"You said you wanted to sleep with yourself!" Akane growled. "PERVERT!"

Ranma hung her head, in part to brace for the impact, but also in deeper 
resignation. Her mouth got her into trouble often enough, but for once, 
she did not believe she had said or done anything to deserve her 
fianc�e's anger. Almost to herself, she muttered, "Damn it, Akane, there 
ain't nothin' wrong with a guy sleepin' by himself. It ain't like I've 
got any other option..."

Akane had closed to attack range and swung her mallet high, as those 
words penetrated. At the last second, her hands suddenly let go and the 
mallet flew off over the compound wall and out of sight. Akane stood 
there, meeting Ranma's eyes, for several long breaths. "Did... did you 
say... b-by yourself?"

Ranma scowled, "What didja think I was sayin'?"

"You don't want sleep with one of them?" The raven-haired girl's hand 
snapped up to point accusingly at the now cringing couple.

"Do you think I am some kind of pervert!?" Ranma roared in outraged 
disbelief.

"Geez, Ranma-kun! Get a clue!" Nabiki shook her head.

Akane and Ranma remained squared off, both of them blushing in confused 
fury. Ranma's clones stared at the two of them with wide eyes. Off in 
the distance, a large object could be heard crashing to Earth with a 
skull ringing clunk, followed shortly by a distant bellow, 
"Raaaaanmaaaaaa! This is All YOUR FAULT!!!"

Kasumi broke into the silence to muse aloud, "Having three Ranmas in the 
house could get confusing. Maybe we should come up with some different 
names so there are no misunderstandings."

"Now there's an idea," Nabiki smirked.

"What's wrong with calling them Copy?" Ranma asked, scowling with 
indifference. She found the notion of giving them names very disturbing, 
as if naming them might encourage them to stick around. That certainly 
seemed true of cats, in her mortified experience.

"Oh, sure. Then we can just confuse them with each other instead of you. 
Give it up, Ranma. You know they're going to be mistaken for you 
anyway," Nabiki pointed out sarcastically. "We might as well take 
advantage of that. Fortunately, they don't change sexes and you've got 
an alias for your girl side. That gives us a way to distinguish them 
from each other and from you. We could go for merely descriptive and 
call them Copy-no-Ranma and Copy-no-Ranko."

"Oh, yes. If Auntie Nodoka were to show up, it would be a lot easier for 
us if Copy-chan was used to being called Ranko. Why, Copy-no-Ranko is 
practically the same thing!" Kasumi gushed with growing excitement.

Ranma shuddered. "Oh man! If Mom shows up now, I'm sooo dead!"

"I don't know. It's a little too long, Sis," Akane shook her head, 
ignoring Ranma's panic attack. "We kinda know they're both copies. Why 
not just drop the 'Copy' part and use No-Ranma and No-Ranko?"

"Maybe just shorten 'Copy' to 'Ko' and make it, Kono-Ranma and 
Kono-Ranko!" Kasumi proposed.

"Okay," Akane agreed, nodding, "and those can be shortened to, Konoma 
and Konoko!"

"Maybe Noma and Noko?" Soun jumped in, getting caught up in the game 
Nabiki had started.

"I don't think you can reduce it any further than that," Nabiki rolled 
her eyes.

"No way! That's like giving them real names!" Ranma protested.

"What do you want us to do, Ranma? Go on confusing them with you?" 
Nabiki retorted. "Then how about Ranma-no-ni and Ranko-no-ni, for Ranma 
and Ranko number two?" she proposed. "That would make it really easy to 
drop the extra parts if Auntie Nodoka does pay us another surprise visit."

Suddenly, the copies were sitting next to Ranma, the boy sandwiched 
between the identical girls. "I think we should call him..." the girl 
twin began.

"Gyaaah! No! Don't let them name themselves!" Ranma shouted, leaping to 
her feet and speed-gagging the duplicates. Memories of Pantyhose Taro 
trying to conjure up the perfect name for himself had surged forth the 
instant the clones took a direct interest in the discussion. Ranma did 
not want to know what sort of ridiculous suggestions his doppelgangers 
were capable of. Giving Nabiki a desperate, determined look, she finally 
relented, "All right, we can do that first one."

"Copy-no-Ranma and Copy-no-Ranko?" Nabiki clarified helpfully.

Ranma nodded energetically.

"I don't know, it IS quite a mouthful..." Nabiki nodded in Akane's 
direction.

"Then use Ranma and Ranko for short, and the rest if we need to be 
specific!" Ranma insisted, less concerned about the twins using her 
names than about either of them getting a real name of their own.

"Hmmm... We could DO that, but," Nabiki shrugged, giving the copies a 
studied glance.

"But what?" Ranma gritted her teeth, wondering what new twist Nabiki was 
about to spring on her.

"Oh, it's nothing, Ranma-kun," Nabiki assured the cursed martial-artist. 
"I should have known better than to try and simplify things."

"Uh, okay," Ranma proceeded to scratch her head, wondering what part of 
Nabiki's suggestions had been simple. After a moment, she just threw up 
her hands and declared, "Whatever. It's settled, then. We can keep them 
straight now, and we don't have to give them cute nicknames." Turning to 
the copies, she reminded everyone pointedly, "They're only gonna be here 
for a week, after all."

With that, Ranma marched out of the room headed for the nearest source 
of hot water.


* * *


As afternoon settled toward evening, Ranma and Akane completed their 
homework in something of an armed truce. Ranma kept glaring at Akane, 
silently bitter over the fact that she had never responded to his last 
question, nor apologized for the misunderstanding. Akane kept glaring at 
Ranma suspiciously, waiting for him to prove what a pervert he really 
was. The two mirror clones had given up on trying to sneak off for some 
privacy, because Soun and Genma had shadowed them at every turn, 
harassing them into sullen complacency in front of the television. 
Nabiki was also keeping close tabs on the mirror twins. By 
eavesdropping, she had discovered that they had come up with their own 
solution to the name issue. They did it by dropping out the initial 
consonant and pronouncing their borrowed names as Anma and Anko.

Ranma spared a glance from his homework to check on the doppelgangers. 
They were sitting close together, speaking in hushed voices, paying more 
attention to each other than the show on television. He resisted the 
urge to go over and hear what they were discussing so intently. The 
conspiratorial whispering made fine beads of sweat pop out over his 
brow. The only thing worse than that paranoid curiosity was his dread of 
what he might find out.

Time passed, marked by the sound of chimes dancing in the breeze.

"Time to eat, everyone," Kasumi announced a short while later, from the 
door to the kitchen.

Akane and Ranma jumped up to clear the table and put their schoolwork 
away. It was left to them to help set the table, as Nabiki continued to 
lounge in front of the television and spy on the clones, while Genma and 
Soun remained glued to their game of Shogi. Neither man dared turn to 
acknowledge Kasumi with a look, for fear of the other swiftly 
rearranging the board.

Inevitably, the smell of food lured Genma's attention and Soun cheered 
his victory. The fathers joined the rest at the table and praised the 
bounty loudly.

"Ah, Kasumi! Everything looks so good!" Soun cried.

A chorus of compliments followed as everyone dug into the food. In spite 
of the fact that Kasumi prepared more than enough to feed two more 
Saotomes, a quick four-way battle ensued between Genma and the 
"triplets" with the older man struggling to defend his meal on three fronts.

As dinner came to a close, conversation turned to sleeping arrangements. 
Soun's declaration still stood, though it was Kasumi who restated it as, 
"It just would not be proper for our new guests to share accommodations."

The clones looked on, glares sharpening with every word. Ranma and the 
others could not help but try to keep them separated. The idea of the 
two of them getting together, intimately, was too creepy for them to 
stand. The household was in silent agreement. No one particularly cared 
about the copies fawning over each other, but... the thought of what 
that might escalate to brought on fits of twitching and shuddering among 
the normal residents.

"It would be best if Copy-no-Ranko slept with you tonight, Akane-chan. 
Copy-no-Ranma can sleep with Ranma-kun and Uncle Saotome," Kasumi suggested.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to put those boys together, Sis? I mean, 
one little splash of water and..." Nabiki held up her hands and 
shrugged. It need not be said that chaos would ensue.

"Erk!" Ranma choked. "I'd rather spend another week sleeping in a tree!"

"Hah! Like I'd do anything with a pervert like you!" Anma denied fervently.

"Hey! That's MY line!" Akane fumed.

"No one is going to come between me and MY Ranma!" Anko declared, 
standing. "Put that silly panda outside for the night, let Akane sleep 
with HER Ranma, and that leaves a futon for me and MINE!"

The mere idea that this was a way to get Ranma and Akane together was 
enough to get Soun and Genma to their feet, pushing the clones together, 
"That's right! What a perfect solution!"

Ranma cut in mockingly, "Oh? You mean you're volunteering to sleep 
outside then, Old Man?"

"Er... No, Boy. Tendo-kun will surely let me sleep on the floor in his 
room. Right Tendo-kun?"

"Ah, ha ha! Right Saotome-kun!" Soun strained to agree, sweat suddenly 
beading his brow.

"But, Father... Surely these two should be married, or at least engaged 
first?" Kasumi asked wide-eyed.

Genma looked over and opened his mouth, "As their effective father, I..."

Ranma pounded his father out the open door. "Are you insane!? Don't EVEN 
go there!" Ranma stood in the opening, huffing, as his father landed in 
the koi pond. To himself, he muttered, "I can't believe he'd even THINK 
of granting permission for somethin' like that!"

He had barely begun to vent his outrage when a human missile hurtled 
into the yard, ricocheting off the crown of Ranma's head and into the house.

The sound of Ranma's body being slammed to the floor was punctuated by a 
familiar cry of victory. "Whatta haul! Whatta haul!!!"

Genma sank meekly back into the koi pond at the sight of his dreaded 
master dropping in for dinner.

Happosai left Ranma sprawled across the porch threshold and dumped a 
bulging bag of lingerie on the floor before helping himself to a bowl 
full of food.

While the diminutive old man was rapidly stuffing his face, Anko leaned 
over in curiosity and pulled out a few pieces of lingerie. Her eyes 
widened with delight as she recognized the opportunity before her. 
Snatching up the bag, she sprinted upstairs crying, "Kyaaaaa! I have to 
try these on!"

Happosai sat there in open-mouthed disbelief. His little mind whirled in 
apoplectic confusion for several moments while tears of joy and anger 
mingled and spilled from his eyes. Finally, what he had just seen and 
heard clicked fully into place. He sprung to his feet, "Sweeto! 
Ranma-chan! I am coming!"

Ranma sat up fast, regaining consciousness instantly at those words in 
that voice. "Happosai!" he growled, automatically seeking out the 
miniature master of panty pilfering. He quickly spotted the old man 
racing into the hall in Anko's wake. Blinking in surprise, he scanned 
the room, noticing that Soun and his daughters sat frozen, final bites 
of their evening meal halfway to their open mouths. Another blink, and 
it struck Ranma that Anko had liberated a wealth of stolen, sexy 
lingerie from Happosai. A final blink, and the most important detail 
finally filtered through to Ranma's consciousness: Happosai had not even 
given Ranma a second look!

"What luck!" Ranma declared and picked up his bowl to resume eating, 
delighted to be spared molestation for once.

"Ranma-chan! Let me help you into those silky darlings!" Happosai's 
voice echoed down the hall.

As Happosai pursued the girl up the stairs, Nabiki and Akane snapped out 
of their shock and rose quickly to their feet. One with an eager look of 
anticipation and her camera in hand, the other with a vengeful look of 
determination and a shinai in her fist.

"Are you just gonna sit there and eat while that wicked old man molests 
your twin!?" Akane shouted, dragging Ranma to his feet, propelling him 
along to aid in stopping Happosai, and the girl.

"It's not my problem! Why don't you drag him..." Ranma trailed off, 
finally noticing that his male twin was also absent from the table. 
Looking up, they spotted him following Anko and Happosai eagerly, ready 
to cast his vote for the best ensemble. "That pervert!" he growled, 
finally taking interest in the chase.

"Hey! That's my line!" Akane protested in vain.

They raced up the stairs, following the "perverts" into the spare 
bedroom. Happosai was proudly laying out lingerie as Anma gaped at the 
sight of Anko shedding her clothing with total abandon. Leaping into the 
room, Akane pounded the "pervert" male-clone, while Ranma tackled Anko 
to keep her from stripping out of her underwear.

"When are you going to stop being a problem!?" Ranma demanded.

"Hey! Watch the hands, mister!" Anko bonked him on the head.

"Don't get so excited! I'm pretty damn familiar with..." the words 
"female anatomy" were cut off in a gasp as Happosai lobbed an ice-cold 
water balloon in Ranma's face. "Gyaaah! Cold!"

While Ranma adjusted her clothes to suit her altered anatomy, Happosai 
handed her a second pile of lingerie.

"I knew there were two of you running around!" Happosai had blundered 
into the middle of Anko's campaign to capture Ranma the week before, but 
had yet to learn how or why the kami had blessed him with multiple 
Ranmas. As far as he was concerned, there could never be too many of his 
favorite student! Always quick to exploit a situation, he added, 
"There's no need to fight over them, Ranma-chan! There's plenty for you 
to model too!"

Akane turned, spotted Ranma with the heap of lingerie in her arms, and 
pounded her into the floorboards. Anko stared at this with wide eyes for 
a moment. Akane did not even spare her a glance, raving at Ranma, "This 
will teach you, you shameless, perverted hussy!"

Ranma reared up, bits of tattered lingerie hanging off of her battered 
form, "You sexless, macho, tomboy! How many times do I have ta tell ya, 
I AM NOT *LIKE* THAT!" Practically hardwired to return insults in kind, 
Ranma could not have said anything else even to save her own life. Akane 
puffed up, balling her fists and hammered the disheveled redhead 
straight back into the wall.

"You're just as bad as HE is!" Akane shouted.

"Who do you think you're talking to!?" Ranma roared back.

Anko blinked, shrugged indifferently, and gleefully finished stripping 
down to slip into something slinky while Ranma yelled at Akane. "Kyaaa! 
This is SO sexy!" She twirled around and then froze in shock as 
something small and bony pressed itself into her bosom. "AAAhhhh! 
Getitoff, gettitoff!"

As Anko's distress reached ear-splitting decibels, Anma snapped awake 
and lurched to his feet. He twisted and lunged in to attack, his leg 
blinking through space like a strobe light. An angry, black blur danced 
around the lightening series of kicks, then bounced into focus near 
Anma's shoulder. Without hesitating, the boy dropped to his chest and 
whipped through a windmill kick, hands planted on the floorboards.

The kick launched Happosai at a wall, but the agile, old master 
rebounded, laughing madly as he pulled a second water balloon out of his 
gi. "Not too shabby, son!" Happosai crowed, dousing the boy with water. 
"Three of them! Oh happy day!" Rocketing in on sheer momentum, arms 
spread to grope the succulent bosom this excellent technique would 
summon, he crashed into the boy's hard, flat chest. "No! What is this!?"

In the moment of distraction, the boy perked up, and squeezed Happosai 
tight in a bear hug. He locked the old man in place, his gnarled old 
face pressed to the damp shirt to keep him from ogling his girlfriend. 
"Gotcha, old man! No way you're gonna peek on MY girlfriend now!"

Ranma caught this out of the corner of her eye, her gaze hardened in 
response to Anma's declaration. While muttering about the "girlfriend" 
comment, she assessed the situation. Happosai leeched energy from his 
female victims when he molested them. Happosai clearly had not 
understood that her clones did not share her curse, and had choked on 
the masculine energy he'd leeched from Anma.

While Anma kept Happosai distracted, Ranma darted past Akane, snatching 
a blanket from her futon to cover Anko with. Akane had finally noticed 
the other redhead and used that instant to lunge forward with her 
shinai. As Ranma whipped the blanket out to snare her copy, Anko sensed 
Akane's attack and dodged, unwittingly causing Akane to get wrapped up 
in the blanket instead. Realizing that Ranma had been aiming for her, 
Anko dropped into a leg sweep, tripping the bundled Akane into Ranma, 
who took the brunt of the impact, as both of them tumbled to the floor.

"Ha! You two couldn't work together to save your own lives!"

"Dammit!" Ranma swore as the girl bounced out of reach. Beginning to get 
annoyed, she growled menacingly, "Ranko!"

"Don't mind me!" Anko pulled down her eyelid and stuck out her tongue, 
as Ranma wrestled with the writhing mass of Akane in the blanket. While 
the two of them struggled to untangle themselves, Anko quickly changed 
through a series of outfits. This provoked Anma and Happosai to renew 
the fury of their struggle. Anma still held Happosai in a tight embrace, 
twisting and writhing to block Happi's view as the old man strained to 
get his face around for a good look. The old goat writhed even harder as 
Anko cheered, "Oh! This is so nice! And this too!"

"Let me see! Let me see! Ranma! You are going to pay for this!" Happosai 
threatened.

"Stop wiggling around you old toad!" Anma growled.

"Oooo! Look at this!" Anko cried out in delight.

Nabiki, who had taken station at the door after Ranma and Akane raced 
in, kept the shutter on her camera clicking with glee. "You go, girl! 
Smile!" Nabiki prompted as Anko dutifully posed for the camera. 
"Marvelous, now, turn to the side. What can I say, Anko? You're a natural!"

Happosai finally squirted out of the boy's grasp and the two began 
bouncing around the room. Anma launched himself after him without 
hesitation.

"Nabiki!" Akane sputtered, halfway free of the blanket, "Don't encourage 
her like that!"

In spite of the struggling tomboy, Ranma was making progress freeing her 
fianc�e from the blanket, albeit becoming more entangled herself in the 
process.

Happosai tried to focus his attention on taking care of Anma for good, 
but he kept getting distracted by Anko's display. Unfortunately, the 
opposite was true as well. With Anma hounding him, Happi simply could 
not appreciate the show Anko was putting on. It was enough to make a 
poor old man cry.

"Ranma! How can you be so cruel to your master?" he demanded, not 
entirely sure which Ranma he meant.

"Akane, please relax for a minute," Onna-Ranma begged, trying 
desperately to keep her favorite blanket from being shredded by the 
other girl's struggles.

Akane did pause, not so much to heed Ranma's request, but to reflect on 
the observation that Anko somehow managed to complete each wardrobe 
change in the instants where the old man and the boy kept each other 
distracted from her. Ranma certainly was not known for possessing any 
sort of feminine modesty, so Akane had not expected any from Anko. This 
certainly was not the first time the girl had paraded around virtually 
nude. However, Akane had noticed the peculiar fact that, in the time it 
took Ranma to untangle them from the blanket, Anko never once stood 
naked before male eyes.

Relieved to have unraveled Akane from her blanket without having it 
destroyed, Ranma quickly folded it and tucked it safely away in the 
closet before returning her attention to her unwanted twin.

As Ranma sped over to try and stop Anko from continuing with her little 
fashion show, Akane tried in vain to intercept Happosai.

Nabiki continued to click the shutter on her camera. After a moment, 
Nabiki noticed that her little sister's attention was focused more on 
Anko than the old lecher. "I see you noticed it too," Nabiki casually 
addressed Akane.

"Huh? You mean 'Ranko'?" Akane clarified.

"Yes. It's an ingenious strategy. She draws their attention to herself 
when she's 'presentable.' They renew their struggle and become 
distracted. She has a bit of privacy to change and then she starts the 
cycle again," Nabiki elaborated admiringly. She saw no need to mention 
that this strategy had not foiled her camera. As Anko evaded a hammer 
strike from Ranma, the Tendo sisters stared as Anko suddenly called on 
the Saotome-exclusive and technically "sealed" art of the Umisen-ken.

Anko vanished, followed almost at once by Ranma's clothes.

"D-d-dammit! Now you're askin' for it!" Onna-Ranma growled. Naturally, 
Ranma retaliated in kind and stripped the other girl bare using the same 
technique. Not about to be undone, Anko adapted the technique on the fly 
to dress Ranma in a stunning bedroom ensemble. Nabiki silently thanked 
the kami that she had upgraded her camera, holding the rapid-advance 
tightly. Anko was able to dress the pair as quickly as Onna-Ranma could 
strip away the lingerie. Under such circumstances, Nabiki set a personal 
speed record changing out the film in her camera, desperate not to miss 
a single frame.

"Ranma, you're just making it worse," Akane growled. Her own efforts to 
deal with the old man and the boy were fruitless as well. Happosai 
bounded around the room evading Anma, and Akane was spinning in circles 
just to keep track of them. It was not unlike watching Ranma and P-chan 
fighting. It was time to switch tactics. "Leave her to me, and get those 
two out of here!" Akane snapped in frustration.

For once, there was no argument. Ranma was happy to retreat from the 
humiliating onslaught of panties and bras and other unmentionables. That 
did not mean she was above taking advantage of her presently lingerie 
clad form to lure Happosai from the room, while Akane put up a screen to 
hide the other girl from view. With a flirty "Come and get me!" Ranma 
drew the attention of old man and the boy to her.

Looking around and not seeing the other redhead, Happosai and Anma 
pursued her out the door and down the stairs.

It took only a moment for Anko to notice her audience had rushed out of 
the room. Before she could follow, ostensibly to get Anma's opinion on 
her current ensemble, Akane blocked her, "Hold it right there!"

"Why do you insist on getting in my way!? Huh?"

"Don't get the wrong idea. If you want to be molested by Happosai, be my 
guest. Just tell me one thing first," Akane crossed her arms and looked 
at her sternly. Anko sighed and gestured for her to get on with it. "How 
can even a pervert like you stand to be wearing underwear stolen from 
someone else?" Akane demanded with a shiver and a look of pure disgust.

"S-st-stolen? As in, other people have worn these!?" Anko gaped as Akane 
nodded. Anko stripped off the lingerie, kicking everything into a pile. 
"Ick! Ew! Gross!" Before Akane could celebrate her success in stopping 
Anko, the girl ran out of the room stark naked and swearing under her 
breath.

"Where do you think you're going like that!?"

"I gotta take a bath, you idiot! What do you think?"

"You freak! Put some clothes on!"

Anko streaked down the stairs, plowing through Soun and Genma. 
Retreating from the chaos of Anma and Happosai's pursuit of Ranma, the 
two fathers froze in shock at the sight of Anko streaking toward them. 
Anko vanished into the furo as Akane paused to check on the fathers. 
Each bore an angry red footprint square in the middle of his face. Akane 
dragged the pair into the sitting room as Ranma raced into the kitchen, 
barely ahead of Anma and Happosai.

"My Love! Don't run!" Anma beseeched.

"Hotcha! Nowhere to run to!" Happosai cackled.

For an instant, the two unwittingly cornered Ranma. "N-now, hold on a 
sec..." Onna-Ranma tried to edge into reach of the kettle that was 
heating on the stove. The boy, thinking she was edging over toward him, 
moved at the same time as Happosai. Ranma darted for the kettle and 
crashed into Anma's open arms. He seized her passionately, and their 
combined momentum jerked them out of Happosai's path. Happosai sailed 
through the space Ranma had just occupied, and rebounded off the wall 
above the stove. He snatched the kettle as he passed, and tossed it into 
the sink where it cracked open and spilled the hot water down the drain.

"Good work, Ranma my boy. Now, just hold her still for me..."

"As if I'd let a pervert like you touch my girlfriend!" Anma jeered. 
Pushing Ranma behind him, he raised his guard to the old man.

Happosai laughed, still flying right at him.

As the boy opened up with his Amaguriken attack, Happosai handed him a 
couple Happodaikarin and launched himself over Anma's head at Ranma.

Ranma spotted the small, dark blur and reacted instantly, whipping a 
large pot off the pot rack.

Anma managed to catch the bombs and spun around, throwing them at 
Happosai just as Ranma lunged forward with the pot, scooping Happosai 
and the bombs out of the air. Once the pot slammed down on the floor, 
Ranma and Anma hopped on top of it to keep the old man trapped.

A moment later, the Happodaikarin detonated in the confined space, 
throwing the pair back away from each other. While Happosai could have 
danced around Ranma all night, two of Ranma proved too much for the old 
man. Trapped with his own bombs, he was fortunate to survive the 
experience merely blasted into oblivion and charred head to foot.

Without a word, the Ranma and Anma sprung back into action. One of them 
was raiding the refrigerator for food and bottled water as the other 
raced upstairs to collect all the lingerie, returning a moment later to 
wrap it all up in a bundle with Happi inside. The boy pulled out a small 
hammer, as Ranma produced the magical compact mirror she'd received from 
the man at Mirror Mansion. Anma bopped the old man on the head, and 
Ranma captured his gaze with the small mirror as his eyes flickered open.

With a whoosh, the wizened old master vanished into exile.

"I knew this thing would come in handy again!" Ranma congratulated herself.

"At last, that pest is out of our way, My Love!" Anma snatched Ranma up 
in a loving embrace.

Ranma looked up in shock, moving into perfect position for the 
descending kiss.

Akane appeared just in time to join Ranma in pounding Anma senseless. 
"You perverted bastard!" they chorused, stomping the poor boy underfoot.

They managed to get a hold of themselves as they realized his continuing 
struggles were actually reflexive twitches of pain.

"That's two down," Akane breathed in relief.

Ranma nodded silently and picked Anma up, carrying him over her 
shoulder. They dragged him to Ranma and Genma's room and laid him out on 
the futon. While Akane covered him with a blanket, Ranma went to her 
closet, grabbed some things from inside, and went downstairs for a quick 
bath.

Anko was sitting at the table, done with her bath, oblivious to 
Onna-Ranma's passing.

Male and dressed normally, Ranma returned from the bath a short while 
later, with a bundle of roses. Sitting across from her, he held them out 
silently, while Akane fumed from the door. Before she could storm in, 
Ranma held up his hand, holding her off.

Akane puffed up, ready to bellow her usual challenge, as Anko bent her 
head to breathe in the scent of the flowers and suddenly swooned. Akane 
paused, a glimmering of understanding passing through her, and raised an 
eyebrow. The roses must have been from Kodachi, to knock the girl 
unconscious like that. Akane deflated, her thoughts warring between the 
obvious fact that Ranma had come on to the girl, and yet in the process 
put her out of commission. Unable to conclude that he had done either 
the right or wrong thing, she simply helped drag the girl to her room.

"That's three," Ranma declared, wearily.

"I'm kind of surprised it's over already," Akane sighed, shaking her head.

The two spent the next few minutes straightening up after the 
pandemonium. Kasumi had already cleared the table and cleaned the 
kitchen, while her sisters had been upstairs with the triplets. Kasumi 
had apparently avoided all the chaos by stepping out on the upstairs 
porch for a bit of fresh air. Ranma sought her out to explain the 
destruction of one of her pots, promising to replace it the following 
afternoon on his way back from school.

It was a small price to pay for getting rid of Happosai.


* * *


Author's Note: I have been an avid fan of Ranma � manga, anime and 
fanfiction for years. I am also a writer and artist. In spite of these 
two things, I did not seriously consider creating any of my own 
fanfiction until now. Before addressing the story I chose to write, I 
want to comment on why I chose to write it. Over the past few years I 
have seen other fans take this cast and explore a wonderful assortment 
of possibilities. Many excellent ideas have been developed, and I felt I 
would have been walking in someone else's shadow, or stepping on several 
people's toes, to explore the ideas inspired by their additions to Ranma 
�. Still, I had those ideas, and they eventually led me back to the 
original series where I discovered an excellent possibility I had not 
yet seen explored. In the original series, the conclusion of the "Two 
Ranmas" storyline was left entirely to the imagination of the readers. 
It was a perfect invitation for a fanfic, and offered me a foundation 
for many volumes of ongoing fanfics. Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections 
begins after Part 4 of Volume 35, and explores the events which unfolded 
during the week when the Tendo Household was stuck with two amorous 
copies of Ranma, one male and one female.


Revision Note: This is the first installment of the new, revised version 
of Ranma Nibunnoichi - Reflections retitled Reflections V.1 - Stuck in 
the Middle With You. This story has been evolving from day one. By the 
time I finished Reflections, I had produced enough material for three 
complete volumes and the story was still evolving in new directions. It 
had taken on a life of its own at some point. I could not stop the ideas 
from spilling out. Before I knew it, it was no longer the story I had 
intended to write. Nor was it the best story I could have written. As I 
worked on the fourth volume, intended as a transition from Ranma 
Nibunnoichi to Ranko Nibunnoichi, I realized it would become necessary 
to go back and revise everything, taking advantage of things I learned 
in the process of writing Reflections and the "bonus" volume, It's All 
in the Reflexes. Thanks to all of the reviews I received for both 
stories, and the special efforts of Daniel Jess Gibson, Chester 
Castaneda and Fangorn (Thanks guys!) that process has begun.

In order to accommodate the growth of the story and the writer, I needed 
to update it a bit so that it can continue. Some of the changes are 
simply structural. It will be a five volume story, each volume having 
fifteen chapters. In the fifth volume you will find out why the next 
story is called Ranko Nibunnoichi - Refractions. Sadly, that does mean 
there will be noticeable changes. Some of the changes will be very 
subtle, while others will be screamingly obvious. For example, the 
reflections will no longer be identified as Copy-chan and Copy-kun. The 
suffixes -chan and -kun, by which the copies were previously 
distinguished from each other, were not really suitable. In Ranma's 
case, the same suffixes have developed into a tongue in cheek way to 
emphasize which side of Ranma is being referred to, but that is not a 
proper way to distinguish a boy from a girl. The -chan/-kun suffixes are 
normally used to indicate a level of familiarity between two people 
regardless of their gender. In addition, the first chapter has been 
expanded to include a rough recap of the events in the manga leading up 
to this story, and part of what was originally featured in the second 
chapter.

I am sorry if this upsets some of you. Feel free to stick with the 
version you like best. I will keep a copy of the original version here, 
if Fanfiction.Net allows it, and on my personal site. For the most part, 
I am doing this revision for my own satisfaction. So far, I have 
published a rough draft. What I want to create, what I hope you will 
also appreciate, is a story that makes the most out of the ideas 
invested in it. I hope to make it a little less confusing as well. 
Comments and Criticism are welcome as always. This is still my first 
fanfic, after all. My only request is that my readers offer examples or 
explanations to ensure that their suggestions will enable me to improve 
the story.

Mature Content: Because Reflections was originally intended to integrate 
with the series, before it evolved into an outright divergence, it faced 
some obvious limitations, which many fanfic readers found disappointing. 
On the surface, the situation screamed for a lovely lemon flavor. I have 
a healthy (avid) interest in sex and sexuality, so it was not a case 
where I couldn't or wouldn't go there... it was just that going there 
would have upset the status quo tremendously. Now that Reflections is no 
longer a "missing chapter" of the original series, the ideas that 
support a lemon filling, can be explored. Part of the story deals with 
sexual awakening and experimentation, and some of the plot hinges on 
sexual events, and must be included in the R rated version. In some 
cases, the fact that sex occurred is the only thing a lemon scene 
contributes to the plot, and those scenes will be found only in the 
unrated version of the story. Even those scenes have a value and 
significance beyond mere fan service, since the way people act and 
interact in intimate circumstances is as important as how they conduct 
themselves in other circumstances.




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